When COVID first came on the scene in early 2020, job postings and hiring took a nosedive and stayed down for a while. Job postings for IT and software positions have now surpassed their pre-COVID levels.
The number of IT and software job postings in Houston for January 2021 are at 111% of pre-COVID levels. Companies are hiring again with a vengeance. This is a clear sign companies are actively progressing on their 2021 Digital Transformation strategies.
When COVID first hit the news cycle in 2020, job postings and hiring took a nosedive. Even before the first COVID case in Houston, companies tapped the breaks on bringing on new people. “There was a lot of uncertainty in the market. We saw the shutdowns in Asia and wondered if it could happen here.” says David Moise, President of Decide Consulting.
“Job postings for software and IT people are a clear indicator how companies feel about investing in information technology. April was the worst point in 2020. The job postings were 25% of normal levels. We broke the thousand jobs posted a week level in the late summer, but as COVID cases went up, jobs went down.”
“Depending on the time of year, we see as high as 1600-1700 jobs posted a week for IT and software people. We have been waiting for this moment. Companies are hiring IT and software people more than pre-COVID levels. With the number of companies moving to Texas, we expect fierce competition for technical talent. Google just announced they are opening a Houston office. Everyone is staffing up now.”
Decide Consulting collects the job posting data from major and minor job posting sites. The company does this for its own market intelligence and to share it with their prospects, candidates and customers.
Here is the raw data:
| Month | Avg. Job Posted | Normal Level Jobs Posted | Difference |
| Feb | 1128 | 1410 | 282 |
| Mar | 867 | 1475 | 608 |
| Apr | 378 | 1480 | 1102 |
| May | 527 | 1425 | 898 |
| June | 650 | 1375 | 725 |
| July | 1013 | 1393 | 380 |
| Aug | 1009 | 1437 | 428 |
| Sept | 780 | 1530 | 750 |
| Oct | 826 | 1562 | 736 |
| Nov | 1059 | 1450 | 391 |
| Dec | 836 | 1051 | 215 |
| Jan | 1268 | 1478 | 210 |
| Feb | 1636 | 1475 | -161 |
Decide Consulting breaks out the job data by 5 levels of experience (Director, Manager, Lead, Specialist and Consultant). We also break it out by over 20 skill categories (Development, DevOps, Infrastructure, Support, ERP,…). If you want additional information on the jobs data or want to know any other information about the makeup if who works in IT in Houston, please contact us.